Apparatus for assembling and stacking material

ABSTRACT

The means for and the method of stacking material, such as fodder, from a mobile device which will pick up the material in the field and pack it in a stack shape or prism and deliver it to the site where it is to be stored. Upon arrival at the site, the stack will be ejected from the device as a complete stack.

United States Patent [1 1 Mueller APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING AND STACKINGMATERIAL [76] Inventor: Eugene Charles Moeller near Mead,

[22] Filed: Mar. 1, 1972 [21] Appl. No.2 230,858

[52] US. Cl 214/82, 56/346, 100/218, 214/9, 214/519 [51] Int. Cl A0ld89/00- [58] Field of Search 214/82, 9, 83.3, 214/152; 130/20; 56/346;100/91, 218, 240, 245, 250

[56] Q References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,691,741 9/1972 White etal. 56/346 Nov. 13, 1973 273,407 3/1883 Tyack ..100/218 3,577,911 5/1971Morse 100/245 Primary Examiner Gerald M. Forlenza AssistantExaminerFrank E. Werner Attorney-Bruce C. Lutz [57] ABSTRACT 1 The meansfor and the method of stacking material,

such as fodder, from a mobile device which will pick up the material inthe field and pack it in a stack shape or prism and deliver it to thesite where it is to be stored. Upon arrival at the site, the stack willbe ejected from the device as a complete stack.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLlNG AND STACKINGMATERIAL The present invention is generally related to farm implementsand more particularly related to a device for gathering, packing, andstacking material such as fodder used in animal husbandry.

The prior art has disclosed means for field stacking material, such asfodder, in a mobile device so that upon completion of a stack it can bemoved to a convenient spot for unloading. However, the prior art hassuffered from various deficiencies, a major one of which is that theyhave been designed to pack the material from the top and then unload thematerial from front to rear. Thus, two completely separate mechanismswere utilized for packing and ejecting the stack. A second deficiency ofthe prior art has been that due to the method of packing, the materialis packed very unevenly and the resulting stack tends to sag in themiddle and form a pocket in which water settles and then proceeds toseep through the entire stack.

The present invention overcomes both of the indicated deficiencies ofthe prior art by using the same apparatus for packing the material inthe enclosure and then for later ejecting the material. This method ofpacking also forms a stack with the stems of the fodder in a moretightly compacted condition, wherein the stems are generally alignedwith the length of the stack, to facilitate run-off of water or otherprecipitation falling on the stack. Since a stack is normally longerthan it is high, the present packing method permits higher packingpressures with the same total force as previously was applied from thetop. A final feature of the packing device of the present invention isthat the stack is formed with the most material in the center of thestack and thus the center remains the highest even after the stacksettles and water tends to run off towards The latching means 22 isbiased in an upward direction by a biasing or spring means 26 and isprevented from moving in a downwardly direction by more than apredetermined amount by a stop 27. As will be noted, latch 22 contains anotch indicated as 28 which coacts with a rod 30 of the tailgatel6. Asimilar latching means 32 is shown extending from side 14. It alsocoacts with a rod (not shown) on the other side of tailgate 16 andcontains a similar biasing means (not shown). When the force is releasedfrom the hydraulic cylinders 18 and 20, the tailgate 16 will drop intoposition and the rods will ride over the angled portion of the latchingmeans 22 and 32 and settle in the notches such as 28. The biasing meanswill return the latches to an upward condition and hold the tailgatefrom reopening until power is applied to the hydraulic means 18 and 20to force the latching means 22 and 32 in a downwardly direction wherebythe tailgate is'again allowed to move outwardly and upwardly. The bed ofthe trailer is shown as 34 and interior to the enclosure produced by thetailgate and sides 16, 12 and 14, is a packing and ejecting means 36which is generally situated in a forwardly or frontal position withinthe enclosure. As shown, it is moved partially towards the rear forillustrative purposes. The packer 36 is moved longitudinally of theenclosure via a connection to one or more chains of which chains 38 and40 are shown. These chains travel on rollers 42 and 44 and are driven bymeans such as a hydraulic or electric motor 46 which is con-.

nected to a drivegear 48. The chain 38 also has a similar drive motor orcan be connected by other chains to the one motor 46. Although a singlepair of chains has been shown to move the packer, it will be realizedthat each end and not settle in pockets to later permeate the entirestack. One example of prior art stacking appara tus is shown in U.S.Pat. No. 3,556,327.

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improvedstack forming means. Other objects and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from a reading of the specification andappended claims in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of one embodiment of a stacker constructedin accordance with the teachings of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a sketch of the stacker of FIG. 1 connected to a tractor andshown in a position of ejecting a stack onto the ground.

In FIG. 1 a mobile trailer unit is shown mounted on wheels 10, one ofwhich is shown, and having first and second sides 12 and 14,respectively. In addition, the

trailer contains a tailgate 16 attached by pivotal means (not shown) atan upper extremity thereof. The tailgate 16 is moved from a closed to anopen position by a pair of pistons 18 and 20 which in general willreceive their force-producing fluid from a tractor attached to thetrailer. Since such actuation is well known in the art, the actual lineshave not been shown connected to the hydraulic cylinders 18 and 20.While one end of the cylinders 18 and 20 are shown connected to thetailgate 16, the other end is shown connected to a portion of a latchingdevice 22. Latching device 22 is pivotally connected to the side 12 ofthe trailer at a pivotal point 24.

other chains may be added at the bottom and other means of moving thepacker such as hydraulic may be used in place of the mechanism shown.

A pick-up device and blower means generally shown as-SO and which may besimilar to that shown in the referenced patent is connected to a hitch52 at pivotal points 54 and 56 and is connected at other points such asby a hydraulic or force-producing means 62. The hitch is connected tothe sides of the enclosure 12 and 14 and is shown connected to side 12at a pivotal point 60. As will be further described in conjunction withFIG. 2, a hydraulic cylinder 58 is ,utilized to tilt the trailer for thepurpose of facilitating ejection of a stack by applying pressure betweenthe hitch 52 and the side of the box. A further similarly situatedhydraulic means may be advantageously placed on the opposite side of thetrailer. The hydraulic means 62 is shown connected between the hitch 52and the pick-up means 50. This allows adjustment of the pick-up withrespect to the ground and further facilitates high speed movement of thetrailer by pivoting the pick-up off from the ground. Other adjustmentshave appeared on one embodiment of the invention but it is deemed notnecessary to complicate the drawing with additional details notpertinent to the invention. Thus, the adjustment as shown is minimal.Within the pick-up means 50 are devices for throwing or injecting thefodder picked up through a chute 64 into the interior of the enclosure.Since the packing means 36 is normally in a most forward position, thefodder is thrown over the top of the packer 36. In most instances the.trailer will be provided with a top to prevent the material from beingblown away. The top was removed for purposes of illustration but oneembodiment utilized a top with a great many holes to allow movement ofair out of the enclosure after being injected into the enclosure fromthe blower within pick-up 54). This air is blown in along with thematerial being picked up and tends to deposit the pieces of material ina generally'longitudinal manner (i.e., parallel to the sides) within theenclosure due to the air flow pattern.

The pick-up 50 may also contain cutting devices for chopping fieldstubble such as corn stalks so that the fodder or material need not becut and raked into windrows as is often required with some types ofprior art devices.

Further, the pick-up need not inject the material over the top of thepacker 36, but rather may be of the type which picks up material fromthe ground and stuffs it in the bottom of the wagon at a point rearwardof the packer 36. in this configuration of utilization, the device maynot produce a stack with longitudinally situated stems in the fodder butwill still operate in substantially the same manner for packing andejecting the stacked material from the trailer.

Referring now to H6. 2 it will be noted that a tractor generallydesignated as 75 is shown connected by the hitch 52 to a trailer device(FIG. 1) generally indicated as '77. The hydraulic means 58 has beenoperated so that it produces a force between the side of the trailer andthe hitch 52 to tilt the trailer as shown. The tailgate 16 has beenopened by operation of the hydraulic means 18. Although not shown, thepacker means 36 could either be at the rearward most portion of thetrailer 77 from having just ejected stack 79 or it could be in the mostforward section of the trailer preparatory to ejecting a new stackcompletely enclosed within the trailer 77 The stacks such as 79 areshown having an imaginary line 81 siruated therein. The line 81represents a condition, not normally found in the stack representing theportion of the stack which is formed upon the first packing operation ofthe packer 36. In other words, when the trailer is substantially .fullof loose material, the operation is stopped and the packer 36 is movedin a rearward direction as far as is possible. This forms a portion ofthe stack to the rear of the imaginary line 81. In some instances thedevice will be stopped once again when the trailer is againsubstantially full and the packer will again be moved towards the rear.Such a second stop is not always necessary and depends on the materialbeing stacked. in any event when the place is reached where the stack isto be ejected from the trailer 77, the trailer is tilted in the positionshown via hydraulic lines (not shown) attached to cylinder 58 and thepacker 36 is moved to force the stack from the trailer 77. The pressureproduced by packer 36 forces material to the center of the stack andpacks this material in such a condition that an apex or summit is formednear the center of the stack and the stack slopes towards each end.Thus, water does not settle, after a rain, in the center or anotherportion of the stack but rather runs off the stack towards the ends. Thepresent method of injecting the material tends to facilitate thelongitudinal placement of the sticks or stems of fodder or othermaterial in the stack and by packing from the front to the rear, thelongitudinally placed stems of the fodder are interleaved one into theother whereby a much denser stack is formed than is accomplished bypacking from the top.

Although not necessary to the practice of the invention, the packer 36is generally constructed to be powerful enough to eject the stack, suchas 79, from the trailer 77 against the stationary forces of the tractorand the trailer 77. Thus, the entire operation of picking up thematerial, stacking it into the wagon 77 and ejecting it into a stackafter opening the tailgate 16 can be accomplished by one person who mayremain seated on the tractor 75. The fact that this may all beaccomplished by one person increases the efficiency of a field worker.

The apparatus discussed briefly previously for picking up material andinjecting the material through the bottom of the trailer is shown inbasic outline form as a pickup 83 attached to the underside of trailer77. Since such a pickup is not the subject of the present application,further expansion thereupon is believed unnecessary. However this pointis mentioned to further point out the fact that the primary inventiveconcept involves compressing material and ejecting it with the packergate 36 and the concept includes any means of inserting the material infront thereof for said compression, including insertion from the side ofthe wagon.

While the single embodiment has been shown devoid of some details suchas connection for the motor 46 and the various hydraulic cylinders toillustrate power sources, it is believed that such details are notnecessary to an explanation of the operation of the inventive conceptwhich after material injection and longitudinal packing allows latermovement of the material via the same device to a convenient spot forstacking.

Although a specific embodiment has been disclosed, it is to be realizedby those skilled in the art that other embodiments may be designedwithin the inventive concept and I therefore wish to be limited only bythe scope of the appended claims wherein I claim:

1. Stacking apparatus of the class described comprising, in combination:

mobile means for supporting material to be stacked and said mobile meansbeing enclosed on at least two sides;

gate means attached in a rearward portion of said mobile means whereinsaid gate means has first and second positions;

endless chain drive mechanism means attached to each of said at leasttwo sides for movement within said mobile means and horizontally withrespect to said two sides; and

packer means movably attached to said endless chain drive mechanismmeans within said mobile means, said packer means being normallysituated in a forward portion of said mobile means and constructed tomove rearwardly toward said gate means, mate rial in said mobile meansbeing compacted between front and rear ends thereof upon rearwardmovement of said packer means when said gate means is in said firstposition, said material being forceably restrained on only the sides,bottom and ends when said gate means is in said first position and saidmaterial being forceably removed from said mobile means to form a stackof said material upon rearward movement of said packer means when saidgate means is in said second position.

2. Stacking apparatus of the class described comprising, in combination:

mobile means for supporting material to be stacked and said mobile meansbeing enclosed on at least two sides;

gate means attached in a rearward portion of said mobile means whereinsaid gate means has first and second positions;

packer means movably attached within said mobile means, said packermeans being normally situated in a forward portion of said mobile meansand constructed to move rearwardly toward said gate means, material insaid mobile means being compacted between front and rear ends thereofupon rearward movement of said packer means when said gate means is insaid first position, said material being forceably restrained on onlythe sides, bottom and ends when said gate means is in said firstposition and said material being forceably removed from said mobilemeans to form a stack of said material upon rearward movement of saidpacker means when said gate means is in said second position;

latching means attached for movement between first and second positions,said latching means in said first position holding said gate means inits said first position until said gate means starts movement toward itssaid second position;

biasing means biasing said latching means toward its said firstposition; and

force exerting means operably connected between said gate means and saidlatching means for first moving said latching means to its said firstposition before moving said gate means to its said second position uponapplication of force thereto.

1. Stacking apparatus of the class described comprising, in combination:mobile means for supporting material to be stacked and said mobile meansbeing enclosed on at least two sides; gate means attached in a rearwardportion of said mobile means wherein said gate means has first andsecond positions; endless chain drive mechanism means attached to eachof said at least two sides for movement within said mobile means andhorizontally with respect to said two sides; and packer means movablyattached to said endless chain drive mechanism means within said mobilemeans, said packer means being normally situated in a forward portion ofsaid mobile means and constructed to move rearwardly toward said gatemeans, material in said mobile means being compacted between front andrear ends thereof upon rearward movement of said packer means when saidgate means is in said first position, said material being forceablyrestrained on only the sides, bottom and ends when said gate means is insaid first position and said material being forceably removed from saidmobile means to form a stack of said material upon rearward movement ofsaid packer means when said gate means is in said second position. 2.Stacking apparatus of the class described comprising, in combination:mobile means for supporting material to be stacked and said mobile meansbeing enclosed on at least two sides; gate means attached in a rearwardportion of said mobile means wherein said gate means has first andsecond positions; packer means movably attached within said mobilemeans, said packer means being normally situated in a forward portion ofsaid mobile means and constructed to move rearwardly toward said gatemeans, material in said mobile means being compacted between front andrear ends thereof upon rearward movement of said packer means when saidgate means is in said first position, said material being forceablyrestrained on only the sides, bottom and ends when said gate means is insaid first position and said material being forceably removed from saidmobile means to form a stack of said material upon rearward movement ofsaid packer means when said gate means is in said second position;latching means attached for movement between first and second positions,said latching means in said first position holding said gate means inits said first position until said gate means starts movement toward itssaid second position; biasing means biasing said latching means towardits said first position; and force exerting means operably connectedbetween said gate means and said latching means for first moving saidlatching means to its said first position before moving said gate meansto its said second position upon application of force thereto.